


i will become the next big thing

by potato_writes



Series: i'm standing right here on (jaime's) side [8]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, F/M, Non-Linear Narrative, Quasi-Ocean's Eleven AU, but there is hope at the end!, jaime's not really in this but shh im tagging him anyways
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:15:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28437483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/potato_writes/pseuds/potato_writes
Summary: The days after they pull off the heist are...strange, to phrase it politely.Brienne’s as satisfied as the rest of her team when they gather around the television and watch Tywin Lannister be led out of his manor, handcuffed and humiliated, watch as two of his children are ushered into a courthouse to stand trial as accomplices to their father’s crimes. She celebrates along with all the rest when the judge denies them a plea deal and it becomes clear that there’ll be no escape from justice this time. For the first month at least, she’s so caught up in the delight of watching as the Lannister empire crumbles at last that she’s able to forget Jaime and the desperate, pleading look on his face when she’d torn herself away from him at the gala and left him behind yet again.*after the heist, brienne wrestles with her feelings while the trial of the Lannisters begins.
Relationships: Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth
Series: i'm standing right here on (jaime's) side [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1956802
Comments: 15
Kudos: 44





	i will become the next big thing

**Author's Note:**

> well, it only took a month, but I finally wrote the next part! if you follow me on [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/potatothecat), you might have noticed I said the last part was part 8. it was not. this is the real part 8, so apologies for any confusion in that regard. also apologies about the fact that this continues to be out of chronological order for no reason other than the fact that I wanted it to be. this takes place after all the previous parts have already happened so far, but we will definitely be going back to see some things that happened earlier (hopefully) very soon.
> 
> title from ghost quartet, as per usual. thank you for reading, and enjoy!

The days after they pull off the heist are...strange, to phrase it politely.

Brienne’s as satisfied as the rest of her team when they gather around the television and watch Tywin Lannister be led out of his manor, handcuffed and humiliated, watch as two of his children are ushered into a courthouse to stand trial as accomplices to their father’s crimes. She celebrates along with all the rest when the judge denies them a plea deal and it becomes clear that there’ll be no escape from justice this time. For the first month at least, she’s so caught up in the delight of watching as the Lannister empire crumbles at last that she’s able to forget Jaime and the desperate, pleading look on his face when she’d torn herself away from him at the gala and left him behind yet again.

But the exhilaration of knowing they pulled it off, that her island is safe and that the Lannisters won’t be able to hurt anyone else, that fades all too quickly. Her teammates—her friends now, which is so much more than she thought she’d get from this enterprise—continue to revel in their victory as the trial drags on. Shae and Margaery in particular are glued to the news reports, watching gleefully as their tormentors are entangled in a web of evidence they can’t weasel their way out of this time. Even Joy delights in watching her family’s downfall, her initial hesitation long gone.

Brienne hasn’t been able to watch since the first day of the trial, when the camera panned to Jaime, arriving in a neat black suit that fits his body far too well, a grim set to his face as he ignored the crowd of reporters and hurried into the courthouse. Seeing him, after everything she’s done to him, after walking away from him twice knowing full well they were never going to work out, it’s too much.

None of the others bring him up when they give her recaps of the day’s events, and none of them tell her to get over it, either. She keeps expecting someone to say it, to tell her _let him go, he’s not worth beating yourself up over, stop being hung up on a man you were never meant to meet_. It’s what she keeps telling herself, after all, in the hours when she’s moving through the house by herself while her team watches the trial proceedings. 

She shouldn’t be surprised, though. Even the Stark sisters, who hate Jaime, who blame him for the murders of half their family, have said nothing about her...connection with him. None of them gloated over her heartbreak at leaving him behind or told her _that's what you deserve if you’re going to fall for a Lannister_. And they could have, too. It would have been so easy to hate her for falling for their enemy, but none of them did, and she loves them all the more for it.

So she doesn’t see Jaime for a long time—four months, fifteen days, and six hours, if she’s being exact. She takes care not to, and her friends aid her in that quest, and she’s—well, she’s not _fine_ , not exactly, but it’s the most she can hope for after tearing her own heart out and leaving it on the floor at Jaime’s feet.

Part of her—the awful, guilt-tripping part that tells her he never cared for her, that her friends really _do_ hate her for loving him—thinks she should be happy. They pulled off the heist, took down the worst of the Lannisters, avenged their families or themselves or protected the things they were trying to protect. Tarth is safe now, because no Lannister-backed developers are going to be coming there now, not without Tywin’s immense fortune at their backs. She did what she set out to do, and earned herself some of the best friends she’s ever had.

So why isn’t she happy about it?

She’d hoped, the slightest bit, that Jaime might be the one thing she took for herself, the one time she did something foolish and reckless and utterly selfish and didn’t care about the consequences. Even when he’d approached her in the bar and she’d realized who he was, she’d hoped. And when she’d walked away, both the first and second times, that hope had been crushed in her chest, making it impossible for her to truly celebrate their success.

And then she’s lounging on the couch with Asha one day, idly watching as her friend flicks through channels, and Asha’s not quite fast enough to change the channel when Jaime’s face appears on the screen.

Before she realizes what she’s doing, her arm is out, keeping Asha from changing the channel. Brienne’s not even sure _why_ ; she’s been avoiding even _thinking_ his name for the last four months. But there’s something about this moment, the sharp line of his jaw, the crease between his furrowed brows that she desperately wants to smooth out, something that grabs hold of her and says _listen, this may be the last chance you get_.

“Brienne, are you sure?” Asha asks, her brow furrowed. She doesn’t push any further when Brienne nods firmly and fixes her gaze on the screen, but the crease in her forehead remains as she leans back and sets the remote aside.

Jaime’s surrounded by a sea of reporters, all of them shouting at once while he stands in the middle looking weary and impossibly handsome. A long moment passes before he raises his hands and they quiet at once, captivated by his charm and his good looks just like everyone else in the world—Brienne included. 

“Thank you for coming,” he says, sounding quiet and somber, something she’s never heard from him before. “I understand you’re eager to hear my statement, given the ongoing trials of my father and siblings. I’m sure you’re also aware that I never wanted to inherit my father’s company, as I’ve made no secret of it in the past. But due to recent events, the mantle of owner and CEO has passed to me, which means I shall be speaking on behalf of the entire company today.”

“I didn’t know he inherited his father’s company,” Brienne murmurs, unable to tear her gaze away from the lines of his face, the hints of grey hair at his temples. “He always told me he wanted no part in any of his family’s schemes.”

“This isn’t one of his family’s schemes, though,” Asha says, shifting a little closer to Brienne on the couch. “If Tywin got his way, he’d still be running the whole operation from inside a jail cell. I still don’t trust your Lannister, but he’s definitely not taking orders from his father right now.”

 _Your Lannister?_ Jaime isn’t hers, has never been hers to keep. Brienne’s given him up twice now, and there’s no way he’ll trust her if they happen to meet a third time. For all she knows, he’s figured out that she had something to do with the data breach that took down his father and sister and brother, even if he hasn’t named her as such in the trial proceedings. 

“I intend to usher in a new era in this company,” Jaime is saying on the screen, and now his shoulders go back and his chin lifts and Brienne can easily imagine him as a noble lord of old, commanding his soldiers from atop a white horse, golden armour shining in the sunlight. “My father’s crimes have been tolerated for far too long, and I deeply regret that I was too absorbed in my own troubles to see the truth of what he was doing until it was far too late. No longer will we tolerate the mistreatment of our own employees, or attempt to develop land that is better left protected, or allow the murder of those we believe stand in our way.”

It’s suddenly very clear to Brienne why Shae and Arianne and Joy had all said Jaime would be their choice to lead the company, if it had to stay intact. The changes he intends to implement are about things that have impacted all of them, negating all their reasons for going after the Lannisters in the first place. Tarth is safe now, and she can go home at last. None of them will ever be hurt by this company again, which means their mission is complete, their need for vengeance satisfied. And Jaime, _her Jaime_ , had brought it on.

“I wish I’d stayed,” she says suddenly, and Asha’s head whips in her direction. “I don’t know if it would’ve been a good idea to stay, or if we’d have worked things out, but...I wish I’d at least tried instead of running away like a coward.”

Asha frowns and flicks a button on the remote, turning the TV off. “I don’t know if I’d call you a coward. You took a major risk with Lannister, even if you didn’t stay. We could’ve decided to cut you out, or he could’ve learned the truth and turned on you, or any number of other horrible things could’ve happened, but you took the risk anyways.”

“I know. I just...what if I’d been braver? What if I’d taken the biggest risk and stayed? I know it’s too late now, but I keep thinking that it’s something I’m always gonna regret.”

“We’ve all got regrets,” Asha says with a shrug. “Thing is, you’re still in a position where you can do something about that regret.”

Brienne starts shaking her head before Asha’s even done speaking, but the munitions expert raises a hand and plows onward. “Think about it, Brienne. Lannister saw you at the gala. He had to know you weren’t there to raise funds for charity, and I’ve got a feeling he’s capable of putting two and two together to connect you to the leak a few days later. But he _hasn’t called you on it_. He knows your fucking name, he knows what you look like, but he’s said zilch. And now he’s coming forward to say that he plans to change how the family business is run, and you’re still walking around free as a bird even though he _has_ to know you had a hand in this.”

“It doesn’t make a difference, Asha!” Brienne snaps, surging to her feet and beginning to pace in front of the couch. “I still used him, I still walked away from him _twice_. You’re right, he’s no fool. Which means there’s no way he’ll bother giving me a third chance to hurt him. I know third time’s the charm and all that, but how can he have any guarantee that I won’t leave him again?”

“Because you love him,” Asha says plainly, as if it’s that simple, “and if you’re honest with him, completely honest with him...well, I saw the way he looked at you when you were dancing at the gala. People in love can forgive a lot of things, provided they’re given reason to.”

Brienne sighs heavily and opens her mouth, only to be interrupted by Asha again when she stands and steps in front of Brienne, forcing her to stop moving. “Brienne, you just finished telling me that you’re always gonna regret not knowing what might’ve happened if you’d stayed. Don’t you think it’s worth taking the risk and finding out?”

She lowers her head to stare at the floor. Asha’s right, she should take this last chance before it’s too late, but…

“You’re allowed to be afraid of this,” her friend says, firmly grasping Brienne’s shoulders and holding her steady. “I don’t blame you for it, and none of the rest of us would either. But you have to try. No matter what he says, no matter what happens after this, you _have to try_.”

They stand in silence for a moment before Brienne nods, drawing in a deep breath and steeling her spine as she looks Asha directly in the eyes. “Tell the others not to expect me back for a while,” she says, measuring every word on the tip of her tongue. 

Asha’s stony features suddenly break into a grin, and she claps Brienne on the shoulders once before stepping back and nodding towards the door. “Go get him!” she calls as Brienne strides towards the door, lifting her head to walk high and proud. “I won’t bother waiting up for you.”

She flips Asha off while walking away, and leaves the house with her friend’s laughter still ringing in her ears and Jaime’s weary expression as he stood before the sea of reporters burning bright at the forefront of her mind.

**Author's Note:**

> I was determined to post this part before the end of 2020 and I did it! I may only have a day of 2020 left, but I got this done!
> 
> this year has been an absolute shitshow in so many ways, but I'm incredibly grateful to all of you who've read, kudos, and/or commented on my writing this year. I never thought I'd be writing fanfic when this year began, but I'm so glad I have, and I'm so glad I chose this fandom to write in, out of all the numerous options available to me. reader encouragement has been one of the few bright spots in my 2020, and I hope the new year treats all of you a bit better than the last one did (I won't pretend I have high hopes for 2021, but for now let's pretend we're all optimists). have a great New Years, and I'll see you again in 2021!


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